Coffee Shop Romance
by Raine77
Summary: AU: Buffy was devastated when her bf (Angel) cheated on her. Desperate to forget, she spent one drunken night in the arms of his brother, Spike. The next day they went back to hating one another, but even after 3 years, neither can forget...
1. No Rest for the Wicked

COFFEE SHOP ROMANCE

Disclaimer-

Joss Whedon is the creator and owner of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and all character's from that show are the sole property of he, Mutant Enemy, and UPN.

A/N-

Hello, all. I've long been a lover of fanfiction, and more recently I've become addicted to Spuffy fanfiction, but anytime I've tried to write anything long, it's come out decidely less than perfect. :) "No problem," I figured, "I'll just stick to reading." This idea got stuck in my head, though, and for some reason, wouldn't go away. I'm having a lot of fun writing it, and hope that someone at least enjoys it- and reviews it!

Chapter 1: No Rest for the Wicked

Buffy Summers sighed as she wiped the counter at the Coffee Shack she worked at. Five minutes to go, and they seemed to be lasting at least a century.

"No rest for the wicked," she thought to herself, putting on a plastic smile and looking up at the person who had just walked in. "How can I hel…" she started, but broke off abruptly when she saw who was there. A scowl passed over her face.

"What do you want, Spike?"

The peroxide blond standing in front of her raised his hand to his chest in fake shock. "Now, now, pet," he voiced in a very pronounced but not very posh British accent. "That's no way to talk to your customers. Can't a bloke just come in for a cup of coffee without bein' verbally assaulted?"

Buffy wasn't buying it. The irritated look stayed firmly placed on her faced, as even more shortly she demanded "Spike, _what do you want_?"

Spike sighed melodramatically. "Fine then, be all business. Now let's see. What do I want?" At Buffy's glare, he grinned derisively. "Well fine, if you're all in a rush, then I'll just get a low cal decaf grande café latte with extra foam and a peppermint shot."

Buffy narrowed her eyes. Spike smirked.

"God! If I weren't working I would _so_ wipe that smirk off his face," Buffy thought. Externally, she betrayed nothing. She smiled at him.

"Can I get you anything else, sir?" Her eyes never left his.

It was Spike's turn to narrow his eyes. "No, that'll be fine, luv," he said carefully. *What's she got up her sleeve now?*

"Okay, then." Still staring at him. "Anya, Spike wants a medium decaf low calorie peppermint latte with extra foam. I'm off, okay?"

Something that might have been 'okay' came from the direction of the back room. Anya Jenkins came out, tying her apron on as she walked. "Am I late? Xander and I were having sex, and I lost track of time."

Buffy looked at her watch, pointedly ignoring Spike, who was glaring at her. "Only a couple of minutes. No big."

"If you're gettin' it, Anya, then don't bother with all the fancies. Just a grande latte, please."

"It's okay. I just compensate for the extra effort by charging you more money." She smiled brilliantly at him. "That comes to $4.62, please."

Spike couldn't help but laugh- Anya's bluntness never failed to amuse him. "Well alright then, pet." He tossed her a ten-dollar bill and put the change she handed him in his wallet. He turned to Buffy, who was returning from the back room where she had gone to get her coat while Spike and Anya talked. "So where you off to, pet? Don't you usually close on Tuesdays?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Bye, Anya," she called over her shoulder. "Put my tips in my mug, alright?"

Busy finishing Spike's coffee, Anya merely nodded, and Buffy lifted the side counter and headed for the door, only to be stopped just as she stepped outside by a hand on her arm. Spike, peppermint latte in hand, had followed her out.

"Spike, what d'ya want?"

He shrugged. "Just curious, is all. Where you off to? Got a luke-warm date with captain cardboard?"

"Look, even if I did, it'd be none of your business," she snapped.

He smirked again. "Oh, struck a nerve. What's the matter, goldilocks? Trouble in paradise?"

"Not that you deserve to know or anything, but Riley and I broke up." At his knowing look, Buffy got even more pissed off. "What do you even care, anyway?" she asked harshly. "It's not like Angel and I are still together, so who I sleep with is none of your business. I'm not even sure that it really was before hand."

Spike made a backing off gesture. "Hey, pet, you're the one who brought up sex, not me."

"Oh, please," she said. "You think I didn't see that look? And for your information, I _didn't_ cheat on Riley."

"Didn't say you did, pet."

The look she gave him should have been labeled as a lethal weapon.

"Okay, fine, so I thought that you did. So what? It's not like I didn't have precedent for thinkin' so, is it? Not like you were exactly faithful to brother dearest."

For a fraction of an instant, a look of hurt passed over Buffy's face, but it was gone so quickly that Spike questioned that he had even seen it. In half a moment, she was back to her old snarky self.

"Not like 'brother dearest' was exactly faithful to me."

"Dru was while you were on a bre…" Spike started, but Buffy interrupted him as quickly as he began.

"You know what, Spike? Save it. Maybe we were on a break, maybe we weren't, but we definitely together when he decided that grinding Faith on the dance floor seemed like a grand old idea." Spike opened his mouth to say something, but Buffy cut him off again. "And the night that we…that you and I…" she exhaled, and took a calming breath, then continued. "That night, I was not only incredibly hurt and angry, but incredibly drunk as well. It was a _mistake_, and one that I would gladly put behind me, if you will just _leave me alone_, like I've asked you to about a million times before." With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Spike standing there dumbstruck. He watched her walk away for a moment, then shook his head. Taking a drink of his latte, he grimaced and threw it in a nearby trash can.

"Stupid low cal," he said under his breath, and turned to walk away- in the opposite direction as Buffy had.


	2. Betrayed, Boozed, and Bothered

A/N-

Thanks for the reviews; they gave me such a happy. :)

__

Flashbacks are in italics.

Skyz- use microsoft word, type the document as usual, then save a copy as an html document- hope that's helpful.

Chapter Two: Betrayed, Boozed, and Bothered

Buffy stormed off, leaving the bleached wonder staring after her. 

"Dammit, Buffy," she berated herself, "why do you let him get to you?" She glanced at her watch and began to run- she was going to be late for her first class.

Ten minutes later, she arrived in front of the somewhat run down building that housed her new self defense class. It didn't look like much from the outside, and wasn't all that amazing from the inside, either, but the rent was within her price range.

A few months ago her little sister had had a bad run in with some muggers behind the Bronze, one of the three local clubs. She'd been in the hospital for a couple of days, not with anything too serious, but anything that required hospitalization was obviously not to be taken lightly. When she got out, she came to Buffy and asked her to teach her to fight. For a while they had used the high school gym after Dawnie's classes, and gradually other students began to express interest in paying for lessons. A month and a half and some paper work later, Buffy's class was now patiently awaiting her inside the building.

"Sorry I'm late," she breathed as she came in to face the group of 12 or so girls. "Great, you got everything set up. Let's begin, shall we? For those of you who are new, I'm Buffy, and I'll be teaching this class…"

An hour and a half later, class was over, Buffy was free to go, and her body was still humming with tension. The safety measures and basic blocks she'd gone over with the girls today had done nothing to relieve the stress she'd had running through her ever since Spike had admitted he assumed she had cheated on Riley.

"God, why does it even bother me?" she wondered out loud.

"Hmm?" questioned Dawn, glancing over when she heard her sister speak.

"Nothing," Buffy said, "just talking to myself. Rough day."

Dawn smiled at her sympathetically. "This was fun, though, wasn't it? I mean, I know a lot of the girls are new, so we didn't really do much today, but that just means word's getting out, right? Soon you'll be able to open a real school."

Buffy smiled back at her. "Maybe. I don't know if Sunnydale is big enough to attract enough people for a real school."

Dawn shrugged. "The crime rate's pretty high here- girls'll come. I mean, we've only advertised this for a couple of weeks, and already we have at least five new girls. Plus Kit and Janice said they were going to join next week."

"It'd be nice, wouldn't it? To have a real school, I mean. I always wanted to, I just never figured I'd be able to without leaving Sunnydale." She snorted. "At least then I could quit the Coffee Shack gig."

Dawn looked a little confused. "I thought you liked that job? Plus, you have Anya as your boss- she's pretty cool." Off Buffy's look, she continued, "yeah, she's really *really* blunt and all, but she is nice. So I don't see wh…" Dawn cut off suddenly as a thought occurred to her. "Spike."

Buffy snorted again. "Yeah. Spike. He's such a pain in the ass."

"An incredibly gorgeous pain in the ass, though," countered Dawn.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy turned to go to the back room and get changed.

"Don't roll your eyes at me!" Dawn called after her. "You're the one who slept with him!"

***********************

__

Angel moaned slightly into the hair of the woman he was dancing with. The way her hips were moving against his… He groaned again, trying to catch his breath. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, but now her tongue was on his neck, and oh, God! What was that? It was something important, if only he could remember…

"Buffy!" he gasped out.

Faith looked up at him with furious eyes. "I am not Buffy," she said, then went back to what she was doing.

"I know, I…" he panted, what was he trying to say? He wanted her so much, maybe it was the alcohol, but oh, shit, she was moving against him again, and now her small hands were sliding up his chest. She pulled his head down to hers, but he had a short moment of clarity, and stopped her.

"Faith, I have a girlfriend."

"And you're so hard for me that you can barely remember her name," she whispered huskily, then she pushed her tongue in his mouth, and slid her hand down to… oh fuck yes!

"Let's get out of here," he whispered into her ear, everything else forgotten, and they headed for the doorway. Neither one saw the young blonde standing shocked off to the side, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Angel…"

The young girl fled out of the room, desperate to get away from the club, where every place she turned she could hear them, see them, practically humping one another on the dance floor. She needed to forget, she'd do anything to forget. She'd go to Willy's. Willy's wasn't the type of establishment that asked for id.

*******************

__

She was well into her 4th screwdriver when he came in. He'd obviously had a few before he came to the bar. He sat at the opposite end, and ordered a Jack Daniels like he owned the place. Willy tried to suggest a black coffee instead, but Spike wasn't the kind of man you cut off- even when he desperately needed it.

She was on her sixth drink before he noticed her sitting there, and walked over (amazingly, without stumbling). He sat beside her, and lit up a cigarette. He took a deep drag, and blew the smoke out in her face.

"What are you doin' here, Goldilocks? Thought you and the grand poof had a date tonight?"

"Nope!" she said over cheerfully. "That… was with his *other* girlfriend. The one he's scre…" she frowned. *Dru…* she remembered. *Was this not even the first time???* She snapped out of it, laughed bitterly and finished her previous thought. "The one he's fucking right just now."

"Right just now, huh pet?" Spike smirked. *Angel, you stupid git- she's the hottest girl in Sunnydale, and you're screwin' round on her?*

"Yep! Just right very now." 

He looked the drunken woman up and down. *His loss, my gain…* He blatantly looked down Buffy's blouse. "That's too bad, luv."

She looked up, ready to yell at him for making it sound so trivial, when she noticed him eyeing her. She paused, unsure how to proceed. After a moment, she smiled coquettishly. "You're looking down my shirt," she said.

"Yeah. That I am."

She leaned very close to him, her mouth just by his ear, and he felt his cock jump as she breathed out.

"Like what you see?"


	3. Still Connected

A/N- Oh boy! First ever attempt at writing smut… I'm really nervous about this chapter, so PLEASE tell me what you think. An NC-17 form will be available at www.spuffyarchives.com shortly. Thanks for the reviews, guys, and sorry for the wait!

Chapter Three: Still Connected 

Coffee… That's what he needed. Lots and lots of coffee. And drugs. Wonderful, wonderful ibuprofen. Spike stumbled towards the cabinet in the bathroom, only to run into his roommate on the way there. 

"Morning Spike," she said, way too cheerfully for… well, it was 1 in the afternoon, but he had a hangover, damn it, so she shouldn't be so happy! 

He mumbled something resembling "Mornin', Tara," and resumed his pursuit of pain medication. He found a bottle, fumbled it open, and swallowed 3 of the small pills down his sandpaper-like throat. He leaned forward to rest his head against the cold porcelain of the sink, moaning. He felt Tara tap him on the shoulder, and gratefully accepted the beer she held out. He took a long swallow, resisted the urge to throw it back up, and downed the rest of the bottle in a few drinks. He sank back to the toilet, and sat with his head between his legs. 

"Now Spike, what do you say?" she teased him. 

"Unnumo fum bench," he said into his hands. 

"What was that?" she asked, still with a small smile on her face. 

He raised his head to look straight at her. He looked terrible. 

"Unmerciful wench," he annunciated clearly, then sunk his head back between his legs. The pounding in his skull didn't block out the sound of Tara's quiet laughing as she left the room and shut the door behind her. 

Forty minutes and a semi-refreshing shower later, Spike entered the kitchen to find Tara reading a biography on Frieda Kahlo and drinking a cup of… 

"Tea?" Spike questioned, frowning. 

Tara frowned, too, and looked up from her book. "You were supposed to buy groceries, Spike." 

He glanced down, and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, bout that, pet…" 

"Spike, please do _not_ tell me you spent our grocery money on booze." 

"I did not spend our grocery money on booze." 

Tara sighed in relief. 

"I spent _my_ grocery money on booze. Yours is still in the Folger's can." 

Tara sighed again, this time definitely not in relief. 

"Spike, you spend too mu…" she started, but Spike interrupted. 

"Tara, luv, we've had this conversation before. I'm _fine_, I just like to drink occasionally, is all." 

"We'll talk about this later. Right now I can't get into it, I need to finish this chapter before class." 

Spike knelt in front of her and tipped her chin up. "Tara, I'm fine. Really, I am. And if it means that much to you, I'll stop drinkin'." 

"It's not for me, Spike, I just worry about you." Trying to lighten the mood, she gave a half smile. "If you weren't a spoiled little rich kid, you might very well be broke." 

Spike grinned at her and kissed her on her head. "I may be a spoiled little rich kid, but you love me dearly. Gotta go, I'll buy groceries on the way back from the Coffee Shack, I promise. And my treat, since they're late." 

He took off, and Tara looked after him, still worried, but she shook her head and went back to her book. 

************ 

Spike really needed coffee. In addition to the hangover, he hadn't slept very well the night before. The reminder yesterday of his night with Buffy left him both with and intense desire to drink himself into a bloody stupor, and to go find her and shag her till she screamed. Once again, his mind wondered back… 

__

Spike licked his lips unconsciously. 

__

"Yeah, pet. I like it a lot." 

__

Buffy's tongue flicked at his earlobe. "Want a closer look?" 

__

"Yes I bloody well do!" he gasped out, and throwing some money on the bar to pay for their drinks, he grabbed Buffy and pulled her toward the door. 

__

He got her home to his flat, and when they were inside, pushed her against the doorway. She could feel the bulge in his jeans pushing against her stomach, and she gasped out loud from the feel of it, until Spike covered her mouth with his. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, and frantically she tangled hers against his until breath became an issue. She pulled away, panting, and bent her head to place open mouth kisses along his neck, as she simultaneously shoved his black leather duster off his body, to lie abandoned on the floor. His blue silk shirt soon followed. 

__

"Cor, Buffy, I want you. Want you bad, baby," Spike groaned into her ear, his hands not stilling their assault even momentarily. He more than wanted it- he *needed* it. 

He threw her coat on the floor next to his, and pulled her white tank top over her head. She was wearing only a lacy white bra and a short brown suede skirt, and Spike thought if he didn't have her naked and lying underneath him in his bed within the next five minutes, he was going to spontaneously combust. 

__

Buffy curved her leg to rest against his hip and simultaneously pulled his shirt over his head, wanting so badly to feel his skin against hers. Spike leaned into the door, twisting his hips into hers as he did, eliciting a shocked gasp from her as his jean clad erection pushed against her right where she needed the pressure. She felt a flood of moisture escape between her legs, and pushed herself harder against him, not wanting the feeling to stop. 

__

Their mouths met once more, and as Spike lifted her, Buffy's other leg came up as well, so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. Spike couldn't remember ever having been this hard in his life, and the little moaning sounds she made every time he kissed her… 

__

"Have to get to the bedroom," Spike thought. "Just have to get… Oh my God, her hand's on my cock, Buffy's hand is on my cock." Aloud, all he could do was groan in pleasure. 

__

Buffy continued to cup and squeeze him through the material of his jeans. "Want you in me," she whispered as Spike kicked open the door to his bedroom and brought her over to the bed. The next thing she knew, her shoes, skirt and bra and Spike's jeans had disappeared, leaving the only article of clothing between them a scrap of white lace passing for a thong. Buffy looked right at him, stilling any apprehensions he might have had that she was making love to his brother rather than him, and pushed the flimsy material down her smooth tanned legs. Eyes still locked with one another, Spike spread Buffy's thighs and began to make love to her. They both gasped as the feeling took them over. 

__

Buffy's hips were coming up off the bed to meet his with every thrust, now, and every time he pushed in, he went deeper than Buffy had ever felt. "Oh, God, Spike, that feels…oh! I'm almost there, baby, just a little farther, oh, yes, Spike!!" With one last cry, Buffy came, muscles clasping tightly around Spike's penis, buried deep inside of her. 

__

Spike lost all control as he felt Buffy's vaginal muscles, already holding him tightly, clamping even harder around him. With a few more wild thrusts, he followed Buffy over the edge, then collapsed on top of her. He rolled over onto his side to remove his dead weight, both of them too exhausted to move any further. Still connected intimately, they slept.


	4. The NotSoUsual

A/N: Okay, I really REALLY suck. I know it's been forever since I updated, for a combination of personal reasons, but I'm still profusely sorry, and I'm giving you three chapters at once to try and make up for it. I'm done of school for the summer and only working part time right now, so I should update more regularly, though I'm not making any promises, lest I break them. Hope I haven't lost all my readers. Enjoy...

  
  


Chapter Four: The Not-So-Usual

  
  


Spike pulled into the Coffee Shack, stopped the De Soto and just sat in the parking lot for a few minutes. He'd been thinking about that night since yesterday afternoon, and his larger than usual drinking binge hadn't done much to help him forget. He wanted to go in and get coffee, but realized that if he walked into that shop and saw Buffy with the images of their night together still in his head, he'd probably give her quite an eyeful. He started the car back up and pulled back out into the street, turning left towards the grocery store.

  
  


'Best go someplace first that *doesn't* have the object of my sexual fantasies workin' behind the counter.'

  
  


Forty minutes and 5 or 6 bags of groceries later, a considerably less worked up Spike (avacados just didn't do it for him) exited the grocery store and stashed the food in the backseat. His hangover was pretty much history, but he was still tired from lack of sleep, so he headed back towards the Coffee Shack.

  
  


Buffy was chatting with one of the regulars when he went in. Rupert Giles was a part-time librarian who usually spent the latter part of the day in the Coffee Shack, talking with Buffy and Anya, or playing guitar. Quite the scholar as well as a superb musician, he took pride in fitting classic poetry to his own music, and made enough money doing so to have no worries financially. Currently he was laughing at something Buffy had said, but Spike could see a copy of John Dunne's work poking out from beneath a couple of pages of sheet music. Though in all honesty, he wasn't paying that much attention to the older man. The peroxide blonde paused momentarily and savored just watching Buffy smiling, before consciously shaking himself out of it.

  
  


"What are ya thinkin' ya stupid git?" he wondered to himself. "She was a bloody marvelous shag, yeah, but that's it. No reason to go all sentimental-like just cause her eyes go all sparkly when she smiles."

  
  


"Oi now!" he said aloud, "You gonna stop flirtin' with the senior citizen and get me a cuppa, or what?"

  
  


The statement did little other than earn him a look of irritation from both Buffy and the man she was talking with.

  
  


"I'm hardly a senior citizen," Giles frowned out. "And there's certainly no cause to be rude to Buffy."

  
  


Spike scoffed. "Yeah, sure, Rupes. You're young enough to be carded."

  
  


"Just because..." Giles started, but Buffy cut the argument short with a sharp "What can I get for you?"

  
  


Spike turned to her, ready to shoot off some horribly complicated beverage order, but then he saw the furious look on Buffy's face, and he could hardly breathe, much less talk. He swallowed. "Cor she's beautiful when she's angry!" he thought. A beat passed, and Buffy raised her eyebrows in question, her arms crossed over her chest in a manner that just screamed 'Well???'

  
  


Spike swallowed once more. "Uh, the usual!" he managed finally. Buffy cocked her head to the side and waited. When he did nothing other than continue his deer in the headlights stare, she prompted "And that would be…?"

  
  


"Oh, right. I, uh"

  
  


'God, why is she so sexy?'

  
  


"I don't have a… a usual. So I'll just… uh…"

  
  


Spike felt his body begin to respond to the image running through his head. In his mind, Buffy was naked, lying underneath him, looking up at him with lust filled eyes…

  
  


"Go! Yeah, I'll go." Seeing Buffy's and Gile's looks, he continued, "I, uh, forgot… something, and…well, I… uh, bye then!"

  
  


He turned and fled. Buffy looked after him for a moment, then shook her head and turned back to Giles and their abandoned conversation.

  
  


******************

  
  


Spike slammed the fridge door so hard that it bounced back open again. He picked up a runaway head of lettuce and threw it back inside, then slammed the door again, holding it to make sure it stayed shut this time.

  
  


"Stupid bitch, that's all she is!" he spit out. Mimicking, mocking- "And that would be?" He returned to his rant, speaking directly to the absent Buffy this time: "Infuriating chit, you are!"

  
  


"You better not be talking about me," came a voice from behind him, pleasantly.

  
  


Spike turned in shock, then went back to scowling. He pointed at his bemused roommate "you're not supposed to be home."

  
  


Tara half smiled. "Wednesday, remember? Just class, no TAing. And don't change the subject. Who's the 'infuriating chit,'" she asked in a bad imitation of Spike's accent.

  
  


Spike's scowl, if it was possible, deepened. "Who do ya think? Stupid bitch. She's the one who chose to go into customer service. She could at least pretend to like me."

  
  


Tara's eyebrows raised slightly. "Right. Cause, you know, you don't do anything to e-egg her on."

  
  


Spike crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture. "Wha? I don't know what your talkin' bout."

  
  


Tara laughed quietly. "Spike the only time I went to the Coffee Shack with you, you ordered a half soy half whole milk extra large latte with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla on top, and the foam on the side in an extra cup."

  
  


"So?"

  
  


Tara only response was to huff out her breath in amusement. "There are two other coffee bars in Sunnydale," she pointed out. "Both of which have perfectly pleasant sales people."

  
  


Spike fishmouthed for nearly a full minute. "Coffee Shack has the best latte," he finally retaliated, then, to the sound of Tara's gentle laughter, stormed off to his room.


	5. Just Friends and Only Ever Enemies

Chapter Five: Just Friends and Only Ever Enemies

  
  


"So he just mumbled for awhile then turned tail and didn't come back?"

  
  


"Yes! It was so bizarre. I mean, weird behavior, even for Spike."

  
  


"Maybe he forgot his wallet at home," pondered Willow. "I did that once, except I didn't realize until after I had my food. It was quite embarrassing, very traumatic."

  
  


"What'd you do?"

  
  


Willow smiled and lowered her head to hide her face from Buffy. "Tara was there. She paid for me."

  
  


Buffy laughed at her friend as the red head's face attempted to turn the same color as her hair. "Mm-hmm," she said. "But you're just friends, of course."

  
  


Willow looked up. "Well, yeah, just friends. No, no, no unfriendly type feelings." She frowned. "Or, or extra-friendly type feelings, rather. There's a complete lack of, of feelings that are other than friendship."

  
  


Buffy laughed again, but decided to let it go. A moment passed, then she frowned again. "Spike, though," she returned to the previous topic. "I don't get it. Why does he even bother? We hate each other, he knows I work there, and I refuse to believe he comes in for our oh-so-superb coffee."

  
  


Willow shrugged. "Maybe it's for the dazzling customer service."

  
  


Buffy gave her a look.

  
  


"Yeah, I guess you're right." A beat passed, then Willow gave a sly smile. "Must be that he's got a thing for you."

  
  


Buffy nearly spit out her soda in Willow's face. "Willow!"

  
  


'Paybacks a bitch, Buff,' Willow thought. "Oh, come on Buffy- all those rippling muscles? And- oh! Covered with massage oil…"

  
  


"Willow Rosenberg!" Buffy finally managed. "You, you're… Wills, you're a gay woman! You're not supposed to be noticing spike's rippling muscles and …massage oil" She blushed.

  
  


Willow grinned outright now. "Ah-ha! You're blush reveals all, my friend. Admit it- there's a definite hotness factor surrounding our dear friend Spike, and it has you all hot and bothered like."

  
  


Buffy blushed again and stirred her drink. "Okay, fine, there's…" She looked around and lowered her voice. "He's totally hot, okay, but he's Spike. Spike who… Well, just Spike, okay? Whom I hate, and who hates me. There are no feelings. Feelings are nonexistent."

  
  


"Except hate," Willow clarified.

  
  


"Yes! Exactly. No feelings except hate."

  
  


"And lust." Before Buffy could protest, though, Willow turned serious. "I don't know though, Buffy. I know he can be a pig, but I hear through the grapevine that he can also be pretty serious. Sensitive, even. If you do have feelings for him still, that's okay, you know?"

  
  


"So I have your permission to fall in love with a complete jackass with whom I have a mutual hatred, Wills?" She paused for a moment, and took a sip of her drink. "And I caught that still, by the way. There should be no still."

  
  


Willow scrunched her face. "I'm just saying, Buffy. I know you two had a fling, and you're not really fling girl, so I'm merely hypothesizing that maybe, perhaps, there might have been something there. And I hear he can be nice."

  
  


Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Oh? And where, pray tell, do you hear this? Who's the last person in this grapevine you speak of?"

  
  


Willow blushed again. "Oh, you know. People here and there."

  
  


"What people here and there, exactly?"

  
  


"Umm, I don't really remember. Maybe Xander…"

  
  


Buffy had to struggle to keep her face composed. She arched her eyebrows again. "Xander told you that behind Spike's ruggedly handsome exterior lies a sensitive soul?"

  
  


Willow turned an even brighter shade of red. "Well, maybe it was more a, a someone else thing than a Xander thing."

  
  


"Mm-hmm. And this someone else- they wouldn't happen to be a Tara McClay shaped someone, would they?"

  
  


"Well, maybe. But, you know…" she gave up at the look Buffy was giving her. "We're just friends! I mean, she's totally… I mean, wow, but, I'm just me, and how could I ever… And besides, I don't even know if she's gay," Willow finished lamely.

  
  


"You know she is," Buffy offered. "Just because you haven't heard her say outright 'I'm gay!' doesn't mean you don't know. And as for the you're just you thing, you're right." Willow frowned, until Buffy continued. "You're you, Will. You're an amazing person. And Tara would be lucky to get a girl like you."

  
  


Willow didn't look all that convinced. "I guess so," she said, "but that's the thing. I don't really want her to have a girl like me, I want her to have a girl who is me." She frowned again. "And okay, wow, that came out a whole lot dirtier than I meant it to."

  
  


Buffy grinned. "Oh, come on Wills. Can't you just picture it- warm massage oil…" She laughed as Willow blushed yet again.

  
  


"Um, yeah, that's um… the weather, huh? How bout it. It's very… weathery…"

  
  


Buffy laughed outright, and after a moment Willow joined in, until they were both laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. And that's the way they were when Buffy heard someone clear their throat to interrupt them.

  
  


For some reason, Buffy just *knew* that it was Spike, before she even turned around. It was just a feeling she had, like when she'd answer the phone and know before the person spoke who was calling. An instinctive thing.

  
  


Except it wasn't Spike. Inwardly, she shrugged. Her instincts sucked, and she used caller id.

  
  


"Hey, Tara, how are you?"

  
  


Willow was slightly more flustered. She did the blushing thing again, closely followed by the babbling thing.

  
  


"Tara! Tara who we were just talking about." She realized how the shy girl might interpret that, and quickly followed with "In a good way, of course. In, in a friends way. In a way that… Hi. How are you?"

  
  


Buffy laughed inwardly at Willow. The red head had built up her self-confidence immensely in the few years she and Buffy had been friends, but stick her in a room with a potential girlfriend, and it all went out the window. "We were just talking about how weird Spike was today, and thought maybe you might know why," Buffy helped. Sensing a setup opportunity, she followed with "unfortunately, I have to go, but you're okay chatting together, right? I'll see you around." And with that she was gone, and Willow was alone with the girl of her dreams, and pretty much the only thought running through her head was "Eek!"


	6. A Gymnast, huh?

Chapter Six: A Gymnast, huh?

  
  


After about a minute or so of awkward silence while Willow tried desperately to think of something cool and witty to say, she still had nothing. Tara looked like she was getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment.

  
  


"Say something! Anything!" mind-Willow yelled at herself, leading to her blurting out the first thing she could think of.

  
  


Tara blinked. She looked not a little confused.

  
  


"Massage oil?" she questioned politely.

  
  


"Oh goddess, now she thinks I'm weird, or that I'm coming on to her, or that I'm a weirdo who is coming on to her, and darn, Darn, DARN, fix this Willow, how you gonna fix this, how you gonna- gotta say something, to cover, gotta"

  
  


"Uh, Buffy and I were, um talking about it, earlier."

  
  


"About massage oil," Tara supplied, still looking confused, but now also slightly amused.

  
  


"Right!" the flustered red-head continued. "She,um, and then Sp… Oh! No, not.. I mean, uh, she kinda owns this self defense studio, and, yeah, she gets really sore, and I heard you work as a masseuse, so I was know, wondering if there, maybe, was a certain type of massage oil that would help her out, cause, you know, sore muscles just aren't very fun. Not that I've really had them all that often, since I'm not really 'Hey, let's go play some sports!' girl, but, I, well, there was this one girl I dated who was a gymnast, and, well, okay, shutting up now…"

  
  


A beat passed.

  
  


"I'm n- not actually a mass-seu-seuse. I think you might be thinking of Kara."

  
  


"Kara."

  
  


"Y- Yeah. Peters. She, uh, she's in classics 204 with Dr. Lewis?"

  
  


"Oh. Right." *STUPID!* mind-Willow shouted at herself.

  
  


Another beat passed.

  
  


"So… a gy-gymnast, huh?" the other girl asked shyly, a small, half-smile on her face.

  
  


Willow blanked for a second, then smiled back at her, saying everything she couldn't manage to say on her own through her sparkling green eyes. Tara's own face broke out into a full-fledged grin, and the two of them just sat there, no words needed. It was small, but it was a first step, and everything in life, just for that moment, was perfect.

  
  


**************************************************************************************

  
  


The Java Hut door buzzer rang as Willow waltzed, obviously in a very good mood and- singing?

  
  


"…ey, Hey, it's a beautiful day!"

  
  


Xander and Giles, looking up from where they were drinking their coffee beverages of choice, cringed.

  
  


The young woman, oblivious, slipped into the chair beside Xander and stole a drink of Giles' mocha. "Morning, Xander, Giles!" she perked.

  
  


Xander shook his head. "Willow Roseberg! How many times have I told you that drugs are not the answer?"

  
  


"Natural high. Yours truly has a hot date with a svelte and sexy blond. Where's Buffy?"

  
  


"Uh, sweetie, I really don't think that Buff feels that *way* about you," Xander put in.

  
  


"Not gonna ruin my good mood, Xand. Where's she at? I convince Buff to double date, and I get to go out with Tara McClay."

  
  


Xander clued in, "Ah. Otherwise known as Tara Mc Svelte, Sexy, and actually a lesbian blonde?"

  
  


Giles, who had been ignoring the conversation up till this point, nodded his head and pointed to where Buffy was finishing waiting on a customer. "Buffy's over there. Anya was busy, so she asked her to help even though she's not on."

  
  


"Buffy!" Willow grinned a wide, hopeful grin at her. "My best friend in the entire world, Buffy Anne Summers."

  
  


Xander shouted out an offended "Hey!", Giles shook his head and took a drink of his mocha, and Buffy gave a wry smile "Save it Wills. My hearing is really awesome, and this is a small room. I'll do it, but-"

  
  


She was cut off as Willow caught her in a hug. "Oh, thank you so much, Buff, you won't regret it, I promise! You're the best friend ever!"

  
  


Xander cut in to the kodak moment with another offended "Hey! Standing right here, guys!" at the same time as Buffy pulled back and finished "BUT you need to tell me when, where, and more importantly, *who*."

  
  


At that Willow broke all contact and look down to the floor. She bit on her bottom lip, her good mood broken. "Well, there is a slight catch…"


End file.
